I'm Always Here
by BoothFan21
Summary: Booth and Brennan investigate a serial killer and spend a lot of time talking at the cemetery.


Booth walked slowly along the grass adjacent to the tombstones, reading each name on the as he passed by. He drifted back to the many different times he'd walked similar paths. As a sergeant, he'd carried Teddy's coffin to its final resting place. He'd only forgiven himself over the guilt for Teddy's death after Teddy had visited him or he'd hallucinated Teddy. Booth passed a tree and it reminded him of when he'd stood with Bones near her mother's grave. Booth often thought how much he had in common with Max and Ruth Brennan. They had done everything to protect their children; Ruth had given her life. Brennan walked slowly behind Booth, looking out to the road where cars were driving by. She didn't see the point of being so quiet while they were walking. "I'll never understand why people visit cemeteries to talk to people who no longer retain their ability to communicate. "

Booth stopped and turned slowly to his Brennan. "I think we've been through this before. You come here to remember the person. Their body is gone but because you remember them they live though you. Also, sometimes it's good for my soul to come visit. I mean, I know that Teddy is dead but I visit him every year on the day he died. I even visited him recently and told him about a case we were working on."

Brennan looked away from the passing cars toward her partner. "You said that you visited Teddy and talked to him about a case but what you didn't say is he responded to you. Scientifically speaking all that is left in that grave is bones. The decomposition of the body is slowed by the embalming process but is not entirely stopped. So, speaking to Teddy you really were speaking to his long-decomposed body which in turn had no way to communicate with you."

Booth couldn't help but laugh. "You see, Bones, that's why I'm not an anthropologist. I believe people are made of some things that never decompose. While their physical bodies are gone, as long we remember them they are always with us."

Brennan rolled her eyes at him. "So how does coming to the cemetery affect the outcome of our case?"

Booth sighed, "You really ruin moments like this sometimes, Bones." Laying the flowers on the grave, "But that's what makes you completely unique and irreplaceable." Booth thought back to how much she'd grown as his partner over the years. Brennan had gone from being the leader of the Squint Squad to one of the greatest assets in FBI history.

*******

The Jeffersonian appeared to be busy. Some interns were carrying around trays, while others sat at their stations looking at tiny organisms under a microscope. In two of the rooms interns appeared to be investigating bone fragments. On the opposite side of the room three interns conducting an experiment that appeared to be related to the speed of a falling object.

Hodgins sat watching as his computer processed the data from the latest victim. This case was really starting to get to him. At his core he was a protector and seeing young women on the table had never bothered him as much as now. "Dr. B., particulates confirm they were all killed at the same location. The level of a mineral in the soil tells me that where they were dumped is close to where they were killed. That makes seven bodies in seven days. If we don't find out something more today, tomorrow someone is going to find another body."

Brennan nodded "Booth has the FBI team looking for anything that could connect the victims, but so far they don't have anything conclusive."

Cam sighed, "It's cases like this that make you add locks to the door and keep a gun in more than one drawer."

Brennan looked at the head, which really had too much flesh for her to exam in the manner she would like to. "The women never saw it coming. None of them did. They were shot while walking away. Booth says that either the women were comfortable with their killer or they were unaware they were being followed. However, Booth's theories are based off of police work and not evidence. I would like to stick with the evidence before making a conclusion."

Angela slid her card and walked up to the platform. "Does anyone find it weird that we've seen more bodies with actual flesh in the last week then we have in the last four years?"

Cam broke a partial smile. "I like it. It gives me more than an administrative role."

"Flesh keeps you in your autopsy room and out of my slime," Hodgins quipped, picking up a tray of soil and walking back towards his station.

Cam looked amused as Hodgins walked away; taking another tissue sample she looked up at Brennan and Angela. "What? You guys get your kicks out of bones. I prefer the flesh aspect of things."

**************

It was mid-morning as Booth's car drove past the park, the children playing catching his eye. Although the streets were busy at least they were hitting most of the green lights. Booth adjusted his sunglasses and sighed, "The only connection to these girls is the Black Belt Karate Institute. All the women were enrolled in for classes in self-defense for the modern woman." Booth reached behind his chair and pulled out a case file and handed it to Bones.

Bones opened the case file and started to read though what had been put together by the FBI on the one common location the victims had all been. She hesitated at first as she completed reading the initial report. Brennan knew that if she told Booth that he would react with his heart not necessarily logic, but she decided he needed to know. "The Black Belt Karate Institute is where I go for my karate classes."

Booth looked over at his partner. "Not anymore you don't." Booth hadn't really thought out all the reasons why he should have worded it differently. He mentally sighed and decided that he shouldn't have to word it differently, he protected those who he cared about and he cared about her. Bones was his responsibility and had been since she'd agreed to go out the field with him.

Bones gave a sarcastic look at Booth. "Don't tell me what to do."

Booth sighed, "I'm not telling you what to do. I'm the alpha male remember? I keep people safe. That's what I do."

Bones looked annoyed. "Booth, I don't need to be protected. The Institute is perfectly safe."

Booth shook his head, "Perfectly safe? That's why I have a case with seven dead women in seven days. It's not safe; it's the hunting ground for this crazy unknown killer." Booth could have smacked himself for approaching her with the alpha male attitude showing. "Bones, I'd rather know that you were safe and right now this place doesn't seem as safe as it appears." Booth had a few momentary flashbacks to when he'd handed her over to Agent Kenton who wanted to kill her and then to the message from the Gravedigger. He told himself then that he's never let anyone or anything get that close to take her life again and so far he'd kept that promise to himself.

Bones scoffed, "I'm going to class tonight." Brennan realized that he was trying to be the alpha male, his instinct to protect her and keep her safe. Brennan looked at her partner and decided that he would be worried all night if she didn't reach some sort of logical compromise about going to her class. "You can sit out in the waiting room with gun ready but I'm going."

Booth mentally laughed; after all the years of partnership and now being married he should have known better than to directly tell her what to do. After a few long moments he decided he would take what he could get. "Gun loaded in the waiting room," he said, affirming to his partner that he would be accompanying her to the class.

************

Brennan sat under the tree looking at the road below where Booth had parked the car. The cemetery always made her feel uncomfortable and she really couldn't isolate why it had that effect. "Can we go now, Booth? This is a ritual I'll never understand."

Booth knew that she had never made the connection of how important visiting the cemetery was to him. "Bones, can you at least respect where we are?" he snapped at her as he stood up and turned to face her. "This is a place of remembrance. I'm cleaning the headstone. It's important to me to be here for as long as it takes."

Brennan looked at Booth not sure how to react to his anger at her; "This is just another ritual. Just like the whole funeral was. We said goodbye when we were at the hospital."

Booth knew her well enough that she was trying to relate in the best way she knew how. He pulled his wife into his arms and hugged her. "Yet for some reason you married me Bones. What was our wedding? Was it just another ritual that you don't agree with?" Booth smiled brightly down at her in a jesting manner.

Brennan laced her fingers though his. "That was different. We have a physiological attraction to each other. But you wanted the paper to show off that you conquered me."

Booth smiled as kissed her head, "I think it was the other way around, Bones. You're the one who conquered me."

*********

Bones walked into the building, still not believing that facts that lead them to here. The Karate Institute had been a part of her weekly routine for years and to have a potential serial killer stalking women from here didn't make sense to her. "Booth, what exactly are we looking for?"

Booth looked around and followed a sign that directed towards the customer relations office, "Someone who works here. I need a copy of the database to look for times of entry, class sign-ins, sign-outs. We can recruit Angela to go though them."

Brennan walked down the hallway towards the management office that she'd been to several times over the years. "Come on, Booth."

Booth kept his eyes on her as she led him to the office. His instinct was to keep his hand on his gun ready to protect her. Once inside the office, they walked toward the desk. "Hi. We need to talk to the manager, please."

Justin looked at Booth, "I'm the on duty manager. How can I help you?"

Booth pulled out his badge and looked at the gentleman's name tag. "Well Justin, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth of the FBI and this is Dr. Temperance Brennan of the Jeffersonian Institute. We are here to investigate the murders of seven young women who are a part of this karate club."

Brennan knew that Justin was quite friendly the few times she'd seen him interact with other employees. "We're here to request a copy of the entire membership database. We need to cull out any possible suspects that may be stalking women to and from the building."

Justin decided that unless the FBI agent and the doctor had a warrant he shouldn't provide any information,."Do you have a warrant for this request? The information is personal and we assure our clients that it will not be released."

Booth pulled out the warrant from his jacket pocket and slid it across the table. "We have the warrant, sir. How long will it take you to process our request? The murderer, if he keeps true to his pattern, will kill again in seven short hours." Booth didn't like the feeling he was getting from Justin. The guy wasn't being at all what he would call easy and cooperative.

Justin took the paperwork and read though it. "I'll pull up the backup copy of the membership list and burn you a copy. It should only take a few minutes to complete." Justin turned to the computer to the left of him and started the backup data burn. "Why weren't we told of this sooner? We could have increased the security to help our current clients."

Booth really was starting to get an edgy feeling about this guy. The snippy and short responses were also starting to bother him. "We found the connection earlier today. Please consider this your notice to increase your security until we can catch the killer."

Justin didn't say anything to them as he walked off to a smaller enclosed room near the front desk. While inside the secluded room Justin deleted selected files off using the owner'sassword. Outside Brennan looked at Booth. "Why are you scowling?" She knew that her powers of observation weren't always accurate but over the years she'd learned what some of his facial expressions meant.

Booth tried to ease his annoyance with Justin. "My gut is telling me that guy is a troublemaker. He was snippy with his responses and unwilling to be helpful."

Brennan shook her head at Booth. "While your gut has proved to be right in the past we should have evidence to support your feelings."

Justin returned to the desk holding the burned disk with the cliental information. "Here you go Agent Booth." Sliding the disk across the counter to where Booth was standing he said, "If there is anything else anyone here can do, please give me a call."

Booth took the disk of the counter and gave one last harsh look at Justin. "Thanks. Come on Bones. We have work for the Squint Squad." Booth opened the door out of the management office and followed Brennan out.

*********************

Angela was working at her desk taking a break from creating the different simulations of the women's murders. She noticed that Brennan was walking in a determined manner towards her office and decided that her friend really needed to take a break. "Hey Sweetie," she looked up at her friend walking through the doorway. "Please tell me this is pleasure and not business."

Brennan extended the CD that she and Booth had obtained from Justin at the Institute. "Booth wants you to see if you can get a connection to the women in the classes they took. The disk contains the entire membership database, their classes and their comings and goings for the last month."

Angela knew since Booth had made the connections that the murders were being committed by the same person, her best friend had been constantly on the go. "Brennan, are you ok? You look tired. You've been going non-stop for three days now."

Brennan nodded, "I'm fine, Angela. Mostly, it's Booth's instinct to protect me that makes me feel restrained."

Angela laughed at her long time friend. "You know Bren, I'm glad you finally bought a ticket on the Seeley Booth Express. He's your cosmic equal and you complement each other."

Brennan thought back to the day that she and Booth had their civil ceremony. "I don't know what that means but I'm quite sure that Booth and I do everything but complement each other. Just today he asserted that he was coming to my karate class with a gun to ensure I was safe. I've always taken care of myself even when I was blindfolded and told me they were going to kill me."

Angela knew her friend very well and knew that Brennan's marriage to Booth was going to take work for both of them. "Sweetie, Booth is the alpha male and is used to being the provider and champion. You're used to being self reliant and independent. No one ever said marriage was easy but you'll figure it out. You just have to trust in Booth that he's doing what he thinks is right and you need to tell Booth when you're feeling like he's taking his role as alpha male and husband too seriously."

Bones was trying to process all that Angela said. "Right, thank you for the insight on my current romantic match. But, logically we need to get back to work on the case. We're running out of time before the killer kills another woman."

Angela nodded, "Alright, sweetie I'll start doing the comparisons and see if I can find anything concrete. Have you and Booth got any other leads? The case seems very cryptic, yet direct. And saying that means a lot since we've all been doing the whole crime fighting squad thing for awhile now."

Bones smiled, "Booth likes to call us the Squint Squad. He's come a long way from marching in here and barking orders."

Angela sat down at her desk. "Honey, you married him. He knows if he barks orders you will just do exactly the opposite of what he wants. Besides, Booth is the unofficial ring leader of the Squint Squad. Before Booth we were just the invisible people that got all the answers for the people who never gave us credit."

Bones said, "Yes, factually speaking you're correct that the FBI never gave us credit on cases. Maybe you can get Hodgins to help you sort though the data since we've gotten everything we can from the soil samples. It might help get us the name of the killer before we find another body."

Angela looked though the first part of the membership list, "I'll call him." Angela wasn't sure that Jack would want to help because she'd turned down his most recent marriage proposal.

******************

Booth sat in Cam's office looking at the computer screen as she entered numbers into calculation tool. "Did any of results for this victim come back different than the last?"

Cam looked though the file. "Nothing. The girls have all been fit, completely clean on all tests and the soil only matches the area where they were dumped. You got all the makings of a serial killer, Seeley."

Booth sighed, "I know. The killer is good at covering every detail. If the Squint Squad we got out there can't get a bead on him, I don't know anyone else that can."

Cam smiled hearing him talk so highly of her team. "Have you talked to Sweets about a profile for the killer?"

Booth shook his head. "Not yet. But, I'm heading back to the office. I'll swing into his office and see what he can put together. I think this is an all hands on deck case, Cam."

Cam nodded, "Booth, this is something that could get you a promotion and a pay raise. Don't downplay this Seeley; I know how big of a case this is to you."

Booth appeared to relax his normal tense business front, "You always could see right through me, Camille."

Cam broke her normal business face and relaxed. "We were close Seeley. We had more fun than most couples do in a lifetime."

Booth appeared almost to flush at the conversation. "I know. There was a time where I thought that maybe we should never have ended our relationship. But I don't regret it now that we did end our relationship back then."

Cam smiled softly. "I think that you and Dr. Brennan are the perfect couple. You have something that most people only wish they could have."

Booth nodded, "I got very lucky with Bones She's the best thing besides Parker that ever happened to me. I never thought this job would give me much more then annoying cases. Instead, it led me to the one woman who challenges me every day."

Cam was clearly disturbed by the topic and shifted back to the case. "I'm going to keep looking for anything that could help find this killer before he strikes again. If he keeps to the pattern, we have until 11:59 tonight."

Booth noticed the change in Cam's body language and wondered to himself if she still had feelings for him but didn't push the issue. "Thanks for all your work Cam; call the cell if you get anything new."

***************

Brennan sat looked at the headstone. "Booth, how is this going to help us catch the killer? We are just sitting here staring at the tombstone."

Sweets looked at her, "Dr. Brennan we are trying to get into the head of the killer. Sitting here, reading the file helps me use my training to understand the killer. Understand what he sees in these women."

Booth paced behind the bench Bones was sitting on. "Besides, it's a nice day the sun is shining and being inside an office would be just a shame."

Sweets flipped though the file. "The women are just common women. They work at everyday normal jobs and go to the Institute for various reasons. One says weight-loss; one says toning and there isn't any concrete reason amongst any of the seven on the applications. Angela hasn't gotten back to me with any of her other findings but, I can check with her after you drop me back at the office."

Brennan turned to look at her partner. "Can't we just go back to the Institute and interview the guy who gave us the paperwork? He could provide us some useful facts that will help the case – at least until Angela finishes her research."

Booth sensed that Bones was starting to get tired of being at the cemetery as he turned to look at Sweets. "You got all the information you need?"

Sweets nodded, "As much as I can get from here. I'll head back to office and build a profile." Sweets looked down at the headstone one last time and turned back to Booth. "You weren't lying when you said you knew how clean up headstones."

Bones scoffed, "Cleaning anything here seems like it wastes time. Logically speaking we should be sitting in your office making this profile."

Booth just laughed, "Come on. Let's get going."

********

Booth sat at home eating his cold dinner as he stared at the clock. They hadn't found anything new on the case and he knew it meant that they'd have another dead body in the morning. He kicked the table leg causing the table to bounce. He didn't like when serial killers beat him at his own game. Epps being the most annoying followed closely by Gormogon.

"You know logically kicking the table would indicate you need to talk to Sweets. You don't want to go shooting at inanimate objects again." Brennan couldn't help but point out his anger was getting the best of him.

"I really hate when I can't get the bad guy, Bones. We've done everything right in this case and somehow I feel I've failed another woman. Another woman is going to die and I can't stop it. I have every man at my disposal and I can't stop her from dying tonight." Booth realized he was letting his work infect his personal life but it didn't matter; a serial killer didn't just stop because he was at home with his wife.

Brennan looked at Booth trying to find the words to comfort him or show him that she understood but they didn't come as easily as she'd hoped. "You will get the bad guy, Booth. We will get him together, because we are partners."

Booth knew his emotions running over and that he needed to relax but he couldn't. "I'm going to go to bed and let the man terrorize my dreams another night. You want to join me?"

She smiled softly at him, "I'll be there in a few minutes."

It was 2am the following morning when Booth slammed open his phone after looking at the clock, "Unless you are calling me to tell me…" He listened to the voice on the other end of the line and dropped his phone.

********

Booth walked slowly along the grass adjacent to the tombstones, reading each name on the as he passed by. He stopped and turned slowly to Brennan and sighed, "Back here again. It always ends up back here doesn't it?"

Brennan looked at Booth and nodded, "It always will."

Booth watched as Sweets, Angela, Hodgins, Jared and Cam walked towards Brennan and him in an almost perfect horizontal line. "I guess the entire squad is coming to drag us out of this place, huh?"

Brennan didn't really know what to say so she just nodded in agreement with Booth as the rest of the team approached them.

Jared cleared his voice, "Seeley, it's time to go. You can't be late, Caroline would have a fit. Today's a big day in the case. "

Booth didn't want to leave; this was a beautiful location in the cemetery and the hours he and Brennan spent here were some of the best. "I know." Walking around one of the headstones to stand between the other members of the Squint Squad, he took one look back at Brennan and spoke slowly. "I'll see you in court."

"Another day, another case. Go get the bad guys, Booth," Brennan spoke as she began following behind them.

Cam sighed as she looked back to where Booth had been standing – where he'd been standing every chance he got for the past year:

Dr. Temperance Brennan Joy Keenan Booth

"My Bones and My Heart"

1976-2009


End file.
